Curb-cock.



. F. H. CASSIDY.

CURB 600K,

APPLICATION man mu. 25. 1910.

1,215,250. Patented Feb. 6,1917.

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WITNESSES: [1VVE N T OR.

TTORNEI/a STA'ES CURB-COCK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 6, 1917.

Application filed January 25, 1916. Serial No. 74,261. i

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, FREDERICK H. CAS- SIDY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Randolph, county of Norfolk, State of' Massachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Curb-Cocks, of which the following is a specification, ref erence being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

It is customary to provide the service gas pipe which leads from'the main pipe into the building which is to be served, with a cook or other suitable valve by which the'gas may be admitted to, or shut off from, the service pipe. The service pipe and the cock arelocated below the surface of the curb and there is usually provided a passageway or well of some kind leading from the surface to the cock through which a suitable wrench may be inserted to operate the cock. The sort of passageway usually provided for this purpose is a box with a cover to prevent dirt from getting in at the top, the lower end of the box resting on the upper side of the surface of the pipe but the box does not form a completely tight chamber and dirt gets in on the under side of the box and it does not properly protect the cock; alsoowing to the action of frost and other surface disturbances, such as by vehicles, the box is more or less moved and of proper position.

The point of connection of the cock with the service pipe is usually below the curb of the sidewalk while the box connection is at the curb and for that reason the device is usually called a curb cock, although of course the cock may be at any point desired or convenient between the connection of the service pipe with the main and the connection of theservice pipe with the distributing pipes in the house.

The cock is left open so as to allow the admission of gas from the main to the service pipe all of the time except when, for some special reason, it is desired to shut olf the supply of gas through the service pipe to the house pipes. 'As heretofore constructed it has been difiicult, in fact, practically impossible to construct the parts sufliciently tight fitting to prevent the leakage of gas through the fittings into the earth, except by the use of a lubricant which in a short time is dissolved by the action of certain elements in the gas so that then there Referring now'to the drawings, .1 repreis a leakage of gas. Theconstant leakage,

even in small quantities, constitutes a considerable financial loss in the course of a year. Not only is there a financial loss due to the leakage of the gas'but the gas itself whichescapes into the ground is very in- ]11I1OI1S to the roots of trees andv to the grass, frequently resulting in the killing of the trees or grass. The object of the present invention' is to provide acurb cock which will absolutely prevent the leakage of gas into the ground.

The invention will be fully understood from the following description when taken in connection" with the accompanying drawings and the novel features thereof will be pointed out and clearly defined in the claims at the close of this specification.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a vertical section partly broken away of a device emomitted.

Fig. 3 is an end view of the curb cook, the well tube and service pipes being omitted.

sents the body of the curb. cock having a tapped out opening at each of the two lateral ends for a screw threaded connection with the two service pipe connections 2, 3. One of said sections, as 2 for instance, connects with the main pipe, not shown, and the other, of said two sections, as 3, leads into the cellar of the building which is to be supplied. The passage 4: through the body of the valve leading from one to the other of said tapped out openings for the pipe is controlled by the tapering rotary plug 5 which fits into a tapered vertical passage 6 in the. valve body. Said plug is formed with a passage 7 extending laterally therethrough so that by turning the plug into the position shown in Fig. 1, the passage willbe open, and by turning it from that position through 90 the passage will be closed in the ordinary way of valve cocks. The lower end 8 of the plug 5 fits into a tapered recess in the lower part of thevalve body, and the head '9 of the plug fits into the tapered aperture 7 ture 10 is an annular flange or curb 11 which is tapped out in its inner periphery to receive a nut 12 by which the plug 5 is forced down and held on its flaring seat. Said nut 12 has a hole 13 of polygonal form, preferably hexagonal, whereby it may be engaged by a hexagonal wrench to turn said nut. The head 9 of the plug is formed with a square recess 14 of smaller diameter than the aperture 13 of the nut 12to receive the square end of a wrench inserted down through the nut 12 to turn the plug to open or close the cock.-- Said plug is circular in cross section and has a ground joint fitwithin the tapered recess 6 in the valve body. The nut 12 should be screwed down tight upon the upper end 15 of the plug 5 and hold it firmly down on its tapered seat so as to make a tight joint between the plug and the valve body and yet when so clamped, the plug can be rotated by its Wrench to open and close the cock. Heretofore it has usually been customary to provide an opening in the lower side 16 of the valve body provided with a screw plug, but there is always more or less leakage past said screw, and I have therefore, in my device, made the valve body without any such opening, the only opening in the valve body being for the reception of the service pipe sections 2, 3 at the two opposite ends, and the opening on the upper side to receive the plugb. With my form of construction it is practically impossible that any leakage of gas should occur out of the valve chamber past the head of the plug.

side walk curbing. An annular cap 18 is screwed on to the threaded upper end of said pipe 17. The upper end of said annular cap is closed by a screw threaded plug 19 formed with a square recess 20 to receive a square ended wrench to turn said plug. -The same wrench may be used to turn the plug 19 and to rotate the plug 5 of the cock. By removing said cap plug 19 access may be had by a long handled wrench down through the pipe 17 to engage with and turn the nut 12, and also through the hexagonal opening in the nut 12, access is given to the square recess 14 in the upper end of the said plug by the square end of the wrench.

If, by any unexpected chance, gas should succeed in escaping up past the head of the plug 5 and the nut 12 it will then remain inclosed in the chamber formed by the pipe 17 because said pipe 17 has a close screw fit with the annular flange 11 at the lower end and is tightly closed at the top by the cap 18 and plug 19. If any gas were thus confined within the pipe 17 it would be reservice pipe.

hat I claim is: 1. A curb cock comprising a valve body having a chamber formed with an inlet and an outlet orifice, an inlet and an outlet service pipe connected respectively with said orifices, said body having an aperture through one side to receive a plug, a plug which extends through said aperture and is seated on the opposite side of the chamber, said plug being formed with a transverse aperture and being rotatable to open and close the passage from the inlet to the outlet service pipe, said body having an internally threaded flange around the aperture which receives said plug, a clamping nut having a screw threaded outer periphery which ongages with the threads of said annular flange and is adapted to be screwed down against the outer end of said plug, the plug having a surface cooperating with the clamping nut whereby the plug is held in place, the plug having a recess below the nut, said recess inlet being flush with the said cooperating surface, the said nut having an opening wider than the recess in the plug, and a stand-up pipe connected with said flange, the nut and plug being adapted to receive suitable wrenches.

2. A curb cock comprising a valve body having a chamber and having an inlet orifice through the wall of the body leading into said chamber, and an outlet orifice through another part of the wall, the valve body surrounding each of said orifices having a tapped-out boss, an inlet service pipe leading from the main pipe and having threaded connection with the boss surrounding the inlet orifice,'a service supply pipe having threaded connection with the boss which surrounds said outlet orifice, said body having a tapered circular aperture through one side and a tapered circular recess in the interior of the wall of the body opposite said tapered aperture between said inlet and outlet orifices, .a tapered rotary plug which extends through said tapered aperture and into said tapered recess, said plug beingformed with a transverse passage and being rotatable to open and close the passage through the valve from the inlet aperture which receives said plug, a clamp nut having a screw-threaded outer periphery which engages with the threads of said annular flange and is adapted to be screwed down agalnst the outer end of said plug to hold said plug in its bearing in the valve body, said plug having a polygonal recess in the outer end thereof to receive the polygonal sided head of a wrench, the inner periphery of said nut being also polygonal and of larger diameter than the recess in said plug to receive the polygonal sided head of a wrench, and a pipe having a screwthreaded connection at one end with said flange of the valve body, said pipe extending upward toward the surface of the ground and having a removable cover therefor, said pipe being of sufficient size to permit the introduction from the upper end of the pipe when the Copies of this patent may be obtained for cover is removed of a wrench having a suit- 15 whereby said clamp nut and said plug may 20 be operated.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

FREDERICK H. CASSIDY.

Witnesses:

J. C. MGAFEE, WILLIAM A. COPELAND.

five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. O. 

